The Elio Engine

[WilliamH]

Since this topic IS about the engine, I'm going to deposit a couple of pennies worth of my thoughts right here.

The Elio will be simple to put together. I mean, it will be much less complicated than most vehicles. Even simple things will be made easier. The fuel lines can run down the side rather than have to be routed underneath and across... The frame is simple. The rear suspension is basic. The engine is (will be) quite lightweight. Most of the parts for the Elio will be made elsewhere and just assembled in Shreveport. There is very little "manufacturing" that will actually happen there. People will stand at their station and attach a door handle or door or put a headlight in position. none of those jobs requires much skill. They are easily taught. Now, I'm not saying monkeys can do it but I AM saying that if your job is to put in a headlight, it won't take you a week to get it right. You'll probably have to see it... once. maybe twice? Getting material to the line at the right time and in the right quantities (and quality) will be the logistic nightmare and THAT is what will make Elio show a profit or loss. If the line keeps getting shut down because the door handle supplier can't keep up, that will suck. But, I think all the suppliers are experienced in their areas and really don't feel that will be much of a problem. I've been there. The guys I worked with shut the plant down a couple of times (flat tire on a truck delivering our seats to the GM plant was enough once). My job was to make sure the supplier (Johnson Controls in that case) produced at the same rate as the plant while maintaining a slight buffer. You don't want your buffer too big because a problem can eat through a lot of inventory if it isn't caught fast.

Anyway, back to the engine. This is the one area that I would be the most worried about if I were the lead industrial engineer on the Elio project. Part of that stems from my lack of expertise in the process (I've built plenty engines but never cast one) and part of it stems from knowing that the process is going to take time.

An Elio should be coming off the line every 54 seconds (52 seconds was what we set stations at but never ran faster than 54 seconds). It's been a while since I was there but lets just say there'd be one every minute or 90 seconds... That is still 40-60 per hour being put together. That's 40-60 engines needed every hour.

My question... On the engine, what single process takes the longest amount of time? If, for instance, it takes an hour to pour, cool, and get the block out of casting (this is just a made up time to get to my concern), that would mean there would have to be 60 casting operations going simultaneously to produce one Elio per minute. Of course, the big boys can do that but what about Elio? I'm ASSUMING there is someone out there who can cast a bunch of parts like that and perhaps they can expand to include Elio blocks, heads, pans, etc. But, WHO is that going to be?

THAT is my concern. Now, if you've read this far, WOW. I mean, I can blabber there... sorry about the verbose vocabulary vomit.

The engine. I can't wait to see it. (who will cast that? who will machine that? who will assemble that?)

Good questions about the engines. Guess that's why the process engineers get the big bucks.

 

[Ty]

Good questions about the engines. Guess that's why the process engineers get the big bucks.

I don't know about "big bucks" but for a kid just out of college, it was the most money I'd made.

 

[JEBar]

My question... On the engine, what single process takes the longest amount of time? If, for instance, it takes an hour to pour, cool, and get the block out of casting (this is just a made up time to get to my concern), that would mean there would have to be 60 casting operations going simultaneously to produce one Elio per minute. Of course, the big boys can do that but what about Elio? I'm ASSUMING there is someone out there who can cast a bunch of parts like that and perhaps they can expand to include Elio blocks, heads, pans, etc. But, WHO is that going to be?

over the last 10+ years I've spent many hours touring RV assembly plants .... while the production line moves at one speed there are individual components which can't be produced at that same rate ..... as an example it can take much more time to laminate a side wall than it takes install that wall .... consequently, provisions have to be made to build sufficient walls to have them in place to be installed .... that can be done various ways, one of which is to have the motors built on a different shift schedule than the one followed by the assembly crew .... as but one example, with an Elio that could be done by building motors on two shifts while only running one shift to build the vehicle .... in short how many hours/minutes/seconds it takes to build a motor is a separate issue from how many it takes to build the trike .... I have no clue how Elio will handle the scheduling, the point of his response is simply to point out that there are ways to handle it

 

[Past Fanatic]

coming here to ask such a question is pointless .... nobody on this form would have access to the info needed to answer it .... if you truly want an answer, try asking it on Facebook or on some site monitored by folks who work for EM

I tried that route, but if Elio Motors 'can't or doesn't want to answer'...... they just [Delete] your question and BLOCK you.... so much for 'Free Speech' and "
since our inception we have adopted transparency as one of our core values".

 

[WilliamH]

Yeah, I know.
In 2011, Lamborghini's 831 employees produced 1,711 vehicles. Shoot, they've been at it since 1983. How in the world does Elio think 1,500 employees will be able to make 250,000 vehicles when Lamborghini could only put together 1,711????? LOL

I watch Velocity channel a lot. They did a tour of the Lamborghini factory (looked more like a clean room in engine assembly) and showed a worker (think I'll call him a tech) assembling one of their v12s. Somehow I don't think their process will be comparable to Elio's in time or complexity.

 

[JEBar]

I tried that route, but if Elio Motors 'can't or doesn't want to answer'...... they just [Delete] your question and BLOCK you.... so much for 'Free Speech' and "
since our inception we have adopted transparency as one of our core values".

looks like you are out of luck .... if you can't get answers from folks who in the know, there is no way you can expect to get them from folks who don't

 

[eliothegreat]

I hope you are self employed, retired, or on vacation 'cause if you aren't you are wasting a lot of your employers time.

Thank you for your kind concern. You really seem to take a lot of thought about my personal life. If it came across as sincere, I'd actually be flattered. Apparently you haven't been on internet forums very long. The standard attack is "Get out of the basement. Your mother is calling you."

Again, if you can't refute, or even discuss the message rationally, attack the messenger.

 

[eliothegreat]

looks like you are out of luck .... if you can't get answers from folks who in the know, there is no way you can expect to get them from folks who don't

True enough. Perhaps the question should be phrased as "How much of the $230M that you are short is directly related to the decision to build a proprietary engine rather than buy an existing unit? Of that, how much is for engine development, and how much for plant renovation and additional equipment?"

 

[WilliamH]

I tried that route, but if Elio Motors 'can't or doesn't want to answer'...... they just [Delete] your question and BLOCK you.... so much for 'Free Speech' and "
since our inception we have adopted transparency as one of our core values".

Why do you feel you have a right to know, and what does it have to do with "free speech"?
Part of "free speech" includes the right to ignore pests!

 

[Past Fanatic]

it is a good feature .... the thing that concerns me is new folks just joining or considering joining the forum who don't have the background knowledge to be able to separate the bull from the bulls**t may be unduly influenced

True, that is why I have been following Elio Motors since 2009, and have collected over 85 pages of notes on them.